National CAD Standard Layer Names Quick Start for Civil/Survey

It doesn't have to be an overwhelming project to start moving to National CAD Standard (AIA) layer names as shipped with AutoCAD Civil 3D.  The rules can be simplified, and with a few core abbreviations, you can get most of your work done at least in the spirit of NCS/AIA.

Follow these two AIA/NCS rules:

1. Keep all name segments exactly four letters except discipline prefix (C- for civil department and V- for survey department) and phasing suffix (-F future, -T temporary, -D to be demolished, -N new). Pad short words with 0 or ~ if necessary (eg. 0024 or TOP~)

2. Use ONLY official abbreviations for the discipline (C or V) and the first (the "major group") 4-letter part of the name. See the examples below and search the NCS Layers List for other standard abbreviations.  Everything after the “major group” is up for grabs and creativity as long as the length is exactly four letters.  Stay close to the spirit of NCS by using this list of NCS civil abbreviations: BOTB/BOTD (toe of bank/ditch), BRDG (bridge), BRKL, CONC, CURB-BACK/FACE, DIMS, DRAN (drainage slope), FENC, FIRE (fp sys “major” group), FLOR (floor), FLOW, FLNE (fire lane), HRAL (handrail), HYDR, KEYN (key note), MRKG (stripe), OTLN (outline), PERC-HOLE, RDME (readme/no-plot), REFR (xrefs), SBCK, STRP (stripe), SWLK, TEXT, TOPB/TOPD (top of bank/ditch), TRAL (trail)

Here are a dozen "spirit of NCS" examples that can be mixed and matched to cover most cases.

C-PRKG-CURB-LIP~-F or C-SITE-CURB-LIP~-F	Future lip of curb in parking lot (drawn by civil)
C-ROAD-PVMT-T or C-PVMT-T	Temporary edge of pavement (drawn by civil)
C-WATR-FTTG-3	Phase 3 water fitting (drawn by civil)
C-TOPO-MAJR-IDEN C-TOPO-CONT-MINR-IDEN C-TOPO-MINR-ANNO C-TOPO-CONT-MAJR-IDEN	Contour labels (drawn by civil)
C-SSWR-MHOL-N	New sewer manhole (drawn by civil)
C-STRM-PIPE-24IN	24" storm drain (drawn by civil)
C-IRRG-STRC	Irrigation structure (drawn by civil)
V-POWR-UNDR	Underground power (drawn by survey)
V-PROP-LINE	Property line (drawn by survey)
V-RWAY-CNTR	Right-of-way: centerline (drawn by survey)
C-ANNO-0050-MV01	0.5 mm lineweight (#1 pen) note for view 01